Archive for ‘Character Appearances’

That Walking Astro Grappler (#6882) just cracks me up every time I look at it. It captures that Classic LEGO Space aesthetic that toes the line between goofy and cool. It’s actually a cleverly designed set. The upright cockpit is unique and the swiveling walking mechanism is a lot of fun. I want to do more with the Walking Astro Grappler in the comic at some point, but decided it would be a fun cameo here.

Continuing the 10th Anniversary of SPACE: The Comic party, this comic follows up on the very first time we saw Commander Schwartz, in the second page I ever posted. Helpfully, I’ve gone back and added “Part 1″ to the now first installment of “Stuck On Mars…”

Ten years ago today – TEN YEARS! – I dug out the LEGO Blacktron Invader I had kept since childhood (still in opened box) and the Blacktron II Allied Avenger I had recently purchased in my new quest to obtain some of the classic LEGO Space sets I had always wished I owned. I thought it would be fun to create a little comic strip with them and post it online for the enjoyment of everyone who had fond memories of the old LEGO Space themes like I did. And admittedly, I thought that if I could keep the comics going for awhile, I could create a story connecting those classic sets that LEGO had never provided (preferring to let kids use their imaginations, I assume). I posted the comic on Drunk Duck (long before I had my own website), which still exists to this day! You can still go back and see the original comments I received! The very next day, I posted the first comic starring Commander Schwartz and I was hooked. Little did I know that a whole decade later (minus four dormant years and one that was almost dormant), I’d still be creating this comic – and having a blast doing so.

SPACE: The Comic (aka Lego Space) has never had a huge following, just a handful of regular readers who have been very supportive. Sometimes I feel like I’m toiling in anonymity. But I came to peace a while ago with the fact that I create this comic because I love the characters, I enjoy telling the story, and it’s very satisfying to create and share it. Anyone else who likes it is icing on the cake, and I am very grateful to you for your comments and interaction over the years. There’s still a long way to go in completing the many storylines I’ve started – and I do have it mostly plotted out. I just want to enjoy the ride and the creative outlet it provides.

The very first comic was called “Blacktron, ‘New and Improved,’” and introduced the rivalry between Commander Valkyrie and Lt. Verwaand. Today’s comic is kind of a sequel and stylistic remake of that page, piled on with twists and elements of the 500+ comics that have come since. I enjoyed revisiting the beginning, and might even do that one more time in the next comic…

Thank you for all your support over the past 10 years, including the readers who have surely moved on and forgotten this comic exists. I’m glad to be back – it’s been almost a year now and I’ve managed to do a weekly comic! Here’s to another 10 years, maybe?! Oh, lord…

I thought it was pretty neat that LEGO retroactively added Classic Space and Futuron astronauts in the color green. The original Classic Space-style astronauts turned up in the fan-designed “Exo Suit (#21109)” set in 2014, and the green Futuron astronaut appeared in the 2015 “City Square (#60097)” set of all places. They aren’t perfect recreations. The astronauts in the Exo Suit set of course have the newer-style helmet, and the Futuron uniform has extra detail that wasn’t present on the original. Still, they’re cool additions. But since they aren’t “authentic” to the original spacemen, I decided to give them a slight twist in the comic. You’ll of course learn more about what the heck is going on here at some point…

Unitron excited me when it came out because it was reminiscent of Classic Space, but it was a bizarrely short-lived series in the LEGO canon. There were only four sets released over two years, and one of them was the massive Monorail Transport Base! There was also Space Station Zenon, the Crater Cruiser (seen here) and the Star Hawk II (Why II? There wasn’t a Star Hawk I.) I only ever had the Crater Cruiser, but always wanted the sleek Star Hawk II. It seems to now be a rare and somewhat pricey set, but I might have to finally cave. (Merry Christmas to me…) Here’s a secret. You can add the parts list for a LEGO set to your want list on Bricklink, then use the “Easy Buy” feature to find all the parts in various Bricklink stores. Often, this will end up being cheaper than purchasing an intact set.

I believe the Crater Cruiser (#1787) from the short-lived Unitron series was the first LEGO set I purchased with my own money. Back then, I mixed all my parts together instead of keeping them by set like I do now. While this was better for creativity when building, it makes it harder to rebuild the original sets for use in the comic. Therefore, when I decided to include Unitron in the comic several years ago, I dug out the parts for the flying module of the Crater Cruiser and never got around to rebuilding the land vehicle. The Unitron pilot in the flying module became Ralph Gunbar and fit well into storylines, but it always bothered me that I never showed the rest of the vehicle. While recently visiting my Dad’s house, I FINALLY dug out the rest of the parts from my old storage bins and completed the Crater Cruiser. I couldn’t wait to put this sleek set in a comic, but realized I needed to explain who Gunbar’s (never-before-seen) partner was. Now you know.